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Renai Iwasaki
:"A lovely rose with a thorny embrace." - Reversereality Renai Iwasaki (Ren) 'is a recurring supporting character in Bleach: Project Genseki. She a childhood friend of the twins Akimoto Kazuma and Juro Kazuma. Previously, she worked as a hostess in her mother's brothel, the Blackthorn Brothel. After reconciling with Akimoto, she aspires to become a Soul Reaper so that she can see the world for herself and possibly meet with Akimoto again. In Akimoto's dreams, he meets an entity that looks exactly like Ren, who claims to work in an unnamed division of the Gotei 13. This apparition in actuality is a manifestation of Odoruningyō's will and is not Ren in person. This 'Ren' acts as the force to rekindle the weakened bond between him and his Zanpakutou, but she shares the exact same characteristic and traits of the real Ren. This apparition also wields a Zanpakutou named Hakuchou. The real Renai Iwasaki wields Hakuchou. Sometime after the timeskip, Ren wields her true Zanpakutou, Kokuchou, along with Hakuchou. Sometime after her death, she is seen once again as Kurenaikoushi after Akimoto reconstructs the Asuachi into Ren's own image. Appearance Ren is a slender girl that looks around the ripe age of twenty. Her shoulder-length brown hair flows downward and her bangs are on a side fringe. She has piercing red eyes that captivate people similar to the clients she sees. When working as a hostess, she dresses appropriately to the level of service that she is to provide. For more extravagant entertainment and demands, she wears a red kimono along with various accessories to decorate her hair and neck. Otherwise, her traditional white European-styled gown suffices for most casual working situations as a hostess. The apparition form in Akimoto's dream wears the traditional shihahusho garment with no special customization. Her hair is also tied up into a bun. Ren in fact has multiple scars on her body from years of physical abuse. The most incriminating scar is the one located on her nape. Personality Ren is a theatrical girl with a knack for flair. She tends to daydream and casually push the buttons of those around her. She shares this trait with her friends Akimoto and Juro Kazuma, but she proves to be the prime example of a theatrical personality. This is due to reading various dramas and books. She possesses a wide imagination that captivates the twins. She even likes to make harmless delusions about the things that she does not know about with the fantastic settings of the books she reads. This makes her appear quite passionate, but Akimoto and Juro truly know that her manifested finesse and passion is because of her unruly scatterbrained persona. She is also prone to hold grudges and boasts a guiding principle of integrity. She tends to evaluate those under her principles, which lead her to take various measures to test another's character and to make sure that person is molded into her ideals. This makes her a very possessive person, especially with Akimoto, who failed to meet her expectations. As a hostess, she acts elegant and charming, much to her truer nature. Nevertheless, work and play are integrated. This leads her to be happy with whatever she does, as long as there is company that she can share her joys with. She is a lonely person and craves company wherever she goes, hence her effort and investment in the Kazuma twins. Her self-sacrificing tendencies to prove a point stem from her idea of strength. She sees strength as one that gives it other people and mainly embodies the strength-- which is why she preaches her principle to integrity. By sacrificing or investing a part of herself, she empowers others. This is mainly why she takes a strong liking towards Akimoto, and it implies that it because of her nature to give guidance and strength for Akimoto that she treasures him in the first place. Amon Isa finds this part about her to be deranged and border-line obsessive. It is also noted that she holds love in a very high regard and strives to share this with Akimoto. She cannot compromise her values, which gives her a burden of Akimoto cannot comprehend nor reciprocate. Background Being an orphan, Ren was adopted by Hinako Iwasaki and was given the name Renai Iwasaki. Strongly indebted to her adoptive mother, Ren worked as a hostess in her mother's brothel, the Blackthorn Brothel, where she was brought up to entertain and to please clients with engaging conversation, dance, and songs as she served them food and beverages. One of her activities was live preparation of food where she uses a nodachi to cut meat and entertain the guests and clients. Becoming a hostess proved to be quite a challenge to her, for she was unbelievably shy at first. But with training, Ren became quite a cultured individual who was also versed in the stories of the World of the Living. She provided and circulated information and rumors to some same various clients as well. Some decades later, Ren met a young boy her age called Juro Kazuma and soon became friends. Days later, she met Akimoto Kazuma who was posing as his twin brother, Juro, at that time. But due to the slight discrepancy between his personality and Juro's, Ren was able to figure it out easily. And so she heard Akimoto's side of the story and his desire to know about the world despite his physical inabilities. She sympathized with the boy's desire to explore outside of his house, and so she entertained him with her knowledge that she's learned through her work as a young hostess. Despite meeting the the boys one at a time (due to Akimoto needing to pose as Juro to sneak out), she grew close with both of them. Eventually, Akimoto was old and strong enough to leave the house with Juro, and the three of them played to no end. Ren would often-times bring out her nodachi for Akimoto to practice with. As the years passed by, Ren and other co-workers started getting abused by the male staff members and clients of the brothel. More and more clients started to pour into the brothel to blow off steam. Wanting to keep this secret from her friends, Ren continued to endure. The twins unknowingly stumbled upon the brothel to swindle more money, and the two caught sight of Ren's plight. Juro attempts to assist her, but Akimoto runs ran away, using his own chronic illness as an excuse to not help her. A disappointed Ren watched her friend run, and starts holding a grudge against him. She treats Juro's wounds later that night. On that same night, she finds Akimoto sneaking into her room to retrieve Juro. Ren then strips herself naked and shows him every mark, scar, and bruise inflicted upon her body. After viciously scolding Akimoto, Ren gives details on how and when she received every mark on her body to guilt him. A guilt-stricken Akimoto returns back home with Juro and never approaches Ren again. Prior to Akimoto getting kidnapped into the Genseki Project, Juro Kazuma has been visiting Ren and tells her news about Akimoto. Seeing that Akimoto is still at fault, she hopes that Akimoto would someday visit her and give closure. She wonders if Akimoto will change for the better. Plot Atonement Arc After hearing that Akimoto was coming to see her after all these years, Ren devises a plan to see how far he would fight for her forgiveness, and convinces her mother to take part of this plan and take back the lost funds that he's stolen. She then escorts the Akimoto and Kishoku to her mother's room. The three meet with Hinako Iwasaki, who demands monetary compensation as well as staff replacement in exchange for Ren's release from the brothel. While Ren is happy with this proposal, she wonders what Akimoto's decision would be. Akimoto relinquishes his funds acquired from gambling, but wasn't willing to hand over Kishoku as a replacement for Ren. Ren smiles when Akimoto didn't forsake his comrade before being whisked away into his arms as the three flee from the brothel. The three then stop by an orphanage sponsored by the brothel for the night. The following morning, Akimoto and Kishoku drop Ren back to the Kazuma residence. She and Akimoto did some catching up with the Kazumas, especially with Juro, who was aware of today's events. Seeing Akimoto as a redeemed man, Ren pledges to Akimoto that she'll see him again, but this time as a Soul Reaper. Akimoto and Kishoku depart from Rukongai to reunite with the rest of their group to meet a new member. Bankai Experimenation Arc A Ren from Akimoto's memories appears in his dream during the Bankai Experiment test. By forcing Akimoto to re-experience his past and long forgotten trauma, Akimoto wakes up in pain with the memory of Ren's scars. Still, he proceeds with the next test. In the next test, she appears again in Akimoto's dream, but this time as a Soul Reaper. She overhears Akimoto and Juro's conversation about the latter's shikai, and proceeds to drop down from a tree and scare Akimoto. She explains Juro's description of his Zanpakutou and chides Akimoto for not listening correctly. Judging from Akimoto's reaction and questions to her presence, 'Ren' thinks that the boy has forgotten her, and tries to make the dreaming Akimoto remember. She mentions that she has been trying to call his name for days, and yet he hasn't answered. The girl then proceeds to slice off Juro's head to elicit a violent response from Akimoto. The two fight with Akimoto emerging as the victor. As the apparition of Ren dies, the dreaming Akimoto still does not have a clue of who she is. He crawls towards her and upon touching her body, he begins to feel the physical pain that Ren has endured during her abuse. Akimoto spends a long time being physically mangled and abused in the same manner as Ren's, while in the real world, the passing only lasts a matter of seconds. The marks on her body begin to show in his body as well, and after succumbing to the pain, Akimoto reaches for her hand before waking up in despair and into the real world. Around the same time, Juro Kazuma gives the real Renai Iwasaki a nodachi from her old room. He tells her that the sword is calling out to her. It is implied that because Ren has laid a hand to the nodachi for the first time, memories and sensations of her abuse was shared with Akimoto in his dream. Prior to her enrollment into Shinō Academy, Juro trains Ren with the basics of Kido and Spiritual Pressure control. Crusaders' Prelude Arc Through Juro's letter of recommendation, Ren becomes exempted from most general education courses (ie. Haiku, Calligraphy, etc.) and starts Shinō Academy with the practical classes. She struggles with the Zanjutsu and Hakuda classes, and obtains low scores in her exams which push her closer and closer towards expulsion. She asks Juro to for his help and mentorship. Juro accepts and invites Amon and Shizuka to help mentor Ren with him. TIME SKIP (post winter war) ??? Arc Juro tells Ren the circumstances regarding Odoruingyō and Hakuchou's conception. This prompts Ren to create and discover Shikai for Akimoto's sake. She does so with Amon's unnamed Zanpakutou. Ren then continues her studies under Juro, Amon, and Shizuka's coaching while still enrolled in Shinō Academy. Some time later, Ren gets admitted into the 3rd Division a few months prior to her graduation. She gets involved with some basic missions with other fellow scouted Academy students. Memoirs Arc Ren senses the disappearance of Hakuchou's presence and then swiftly moves to the Kazuma household. Bearing witness to Akimoto's lifeless body on his bedside, she weeps with the Kazuma family. Ren then stays by his bedside in silence for hours as she mourns. She then orders Juro to preserve Akimoto's body, so that he can buy time for Ren to learn Bankai. Since she already knew how to use Hakuchou no Mizumi and manifest Hakuchou unto the real world, acquiring Bankai from Kokuchou took her a less amount of time. Nearing the end of five months, Ren finally manifests Kokuchou. Kokuchou is aware of Ren's objective to save Akimoto and tests her strength and will. The two fight for hours with Ren emerging the victor and acquiring her Bankai. After a week of rest, Ren and Juro go to Akimoto's body. A reluctant Juro watches Ren activate her Bankai, Saigonobutai. Ren then apologizes to Juro for her selfishness and likens herself to be Akimoto. She gives off a parting smile to her friend and faces Akimoto with loving eyes. She says that when Akimoto wakes up, all memories of her will be erased and there is nothing that Juro can do about it. She says that Akimoto may never be the same, and she cries along with Juro. She then kills herself by committing seppuku and pours her blood unto Akimoto's bedside. To hide her body when Akimoto awakens, Juro casts Kyokkō. With her life as the toll for Chimotone, Ren uses her life energy as a surrogate for Akimoto's body. He then awakens from death bearing the color of Ren's eyes and with no memory of his childhood friend. Equipment *'Zanpakutous: After the timeskip leading into the ??? Arc, Ren has two Zanpakutous in her possession. She cannot use their respective abilities simultaneously and doing so puts wide strain in her soul for adapting between the two. This is because her Zanapkutou, Hakuchou, is not conceived from her entire soul, but by a part of Akimoto's soul as well when wielding it in his childhood. It also is manifested by Odoruningyō as well. Because it is a shared Zanpakutou unique for both, Akimoto can feel the exhaustive effects of it being used. Should anyone of the two fall in battle, Hakuchou would also cease to activate its abilities and become an asauchi. This prompts Ren to favor the use of her true Zanpakutou, Kokuchou, in order to lighten Akimoto's load. Despite this, Ren carries Hakuchou along with Kokuchou. While she uses it in battles, she is discouraged from activating its Shikai. Powers and Abilities : The apparition in Akimoto's dream is versed in knowing how to disarm weapons. Her methods of combat include the techniques to disarm an opponent after locking swords. In her fight, she has been shown to disarm him multiple times, despite him being very well versed in Zanjutsu. However, her Zanpakutou's ability aided her greatly in employing the technique. This fighting style traces back to Hakuchou's nature, and while it may seem that the actual Ren may not possess this prowess, it is Ren's fighting preferred fighting style of choice due to Hakuchou being the one tailored for Ren's abilities despite being created from memories and Spiritual Pressure that act as a surrogate soul. Through training with Amon and Shizuka, Ren has developed at least a standard offensive capability in Zanjutsu. She leans more to the spectrum of defensive stances and strikes to parry and disarm opponents, which likens her skills to that of the apparition in Akimoto's dream. Kido Practitioner: Training under Juro after Aizen's defeat, Ren becomes somewhat proficient in Kido. She finds casting Bakudo spells to be much easier than casting Hado spells. She also learns how to perform Teori Eishō (纏上詠唱, Woven Incantation) from Juro. This allows one to trace and weave Kanji in the air without any need for incantation and shortens the casting time. Unlike Eishōhaki, it is not as instant. The Kido spell, however, is not severely weakened if Teori Eishō is used. She also learns on how to erect small Kido barriers with Shizuka's mentorship. Shunpo Practitioner: The apparition of Ren in the dream is shown to have great movement speed. She was able to surprise Akimoto (who does not experience his Huntington's Disease symptoms during his dreams). Through training with Amon, Ren has learned how to perform Shunpo. Zanpakutou Hakuchou(白鳥, Swan): The sealed form takes the appearance of a slender nodachi with a silver rectangular tsuba. It was wielded in its sealed form by both Ren and Akimoto prior to their knowledge of it being an asauchi. * Shikai: 'Release command is '"Purge". Water starts to trickle down from the tip the of blade before enveloping the katana with a thin layer of water. The water is somewhat dense, but retains its water-like viscosity. :Shikai Special Ability: As a water-type Zanpakutou, the user is able to manipulate the form of the water from the blade within the liquid state. This can lead the weapon to take in different shapes and forms for different ranges in combat. The water itself cannot be changed from the liquid state despite changes in temperature and pressure, for the water itself will adjust its other physical properties in order to maintain this liquid state. Maintaining liquid state is passive and requires Reiatsu. The water also has a special property that dampens the strength of all attacks that make contact with the water, due to the strength of the surface tension alone. The water is able to trifle down an opponent's offensive strikes down to a very low level as if the opponent himself is holding back. It can also prevent the opponent from condensing Reiatsu and Reiryoku within their body to soften strikes. Despite this, Ren is also subject to this ability if she attacks with her water-enveloped weapon. She must separate the water from the sword in order for her to strengthen her attacks with Reiatsu and Reiryoku. Ren can also grab sharp objects without being cut as long as it is laced with the water from her Zanpakutou. Bankai: Hakuchou no Mizumi (白鳥の湖, Swan Lake): The water from the blade pours out like a torrent and spills to form a small layer of water within a very large radius. The resemblance looks like that of a still pond or a lake with Ren at the center. :Bankai Special Ability: Ren can still manipulate the water in the same manner as using her Shikai, but now more water is present to use upon activation of her Bankai. The entire field of water serves as Ren's range. Within the watery space, all Reiatsu-based attacks are dampened. This moderates the balance of power of those inside and permits only the use of natural strength and skill. This also causes some sensory issues with Reiatsu and vision. Akimoto notes that the pond somehow masks the user's movements leaving behind an after-image of the user once every two seconds. It is a passive ability that can lead an opponent into attacking elsewhere. There is a fault with this ability, for if one can judge the distance between the after-images left behind, then the enemy can deduce the user's speed and position to act accordingly and land a strike. This is what allowed Akimoto to defeat 'Ren' with her Bankai. Kokuchou (黒鳥, Black Swan): The sealed form takes on the appearance of a knife with one foot-long single-edged blade. *'Shikai': Release command is Persecute. There is no indicative change to the weapon upon activating Shikai. :Shikai Special Ability: By performing a gesture with a hypnotic movement, a link is formed between the user and the desired target. Should the wielder of Kokuchou be harmed in anyway, the desired target suffers the exact same wounds inflicted with a magnitude proportional to the target's size in comparison. The damage done to the user is dealt proportionately to the linked target. The user can also transfer specific wounds to the linked target. It is noted that healing the user does heal the linked target. Since it prompts harm to the user, this dangerous Shikai is inefficient for Hollow hunting is and is more applicable to healing Kido. Nevertheless, when against human-like foes, it is a battle of endurance. Bankai: Saigonobutai (最後の舞台, Swan Song): Like the Shikai, there is no change to the weapon, but upon activation, the blade itself becomes shrouded with Reiatsu for small moment to indicate the activation of Bankai. :''Bankai Special Ability:'' *'Chimotone' (血元値, Blood Price): This Bankai scales the user's strength according to the amount of Spiritual Pressure has left and the number and severity of the wounds that the user sustains. The closer the user is towards death, the stronger the user becomes in terms of strength and Reiryoku. The user can also self-inflict wounds to activate certain abilities. One such ability, and the only ability known, is to transfer the user's life energy by committing a seppuku-like ritual. By sacrificing one's life, another one's life can be saved from death. Ren performs this ability to revive Akimoto. Stats (without Shikai) Stats (with Hakuchou) Stats (with Hakuchou no Mizumi) Stats (with Kokuchou) Stats (with Saigonobutai) Relationships Akimoto Kazuma Akimoto is Ren's childhood friend, whom she loves very much to the point where she would suffer to a make him understand a point. They often tease each other and are comfortable in each other's presence to the point where they can be rude to one another without any hard feelings. Despite her grudge, she is truly caring for Akimoto and has engraved him into a special place in her heart. Despite her feelings, she is hesitant to reveal her affection because he does not understand romantic love. So she tries to show him what love is through her stories and tales of various authors and such. Other than that, she and Akimoto trust each other very much. She has learned to forgive Akimoto's sins against her and schemes to make Akimoto into a more developed, mature, and kind man. She even gives up her life so that Akimoto can live. Juro Kazuma Ren is also platonically close to Juro. During the Akimoto's absence, Juro was the one that visited her to give news of Akimoto's whereabouts. Other than that, they continued to share new stories that happened in their lives. She and Juro also continue to conspire together in order to ease Akimoto's burden and guilt. Sometime after Aizen's defeat, Juro mentors Ren with Bakudo spells and teaches her Teori Eishō and later on, has his partners mentor her in Kido, Shunpo, and Zanjutsu. His greatest display of emotion was the sadness he bears beside Akimoto's death bed and the anguish he holds when Ren makes her sacrifice to revive Akimoto, showing his strong closeness with her. Having lost a friend, Juro chronicles the tales of he and his friends unto a book in respect for Ren. Since Ren did not tell what Juro should do with her body, Juro buries her beside the large blackthorn where the trio would constantly meet as kids. He then sets up a grave for her. Kishoku Hyakuhasu Ren is shown to be quite content with Kishoku, despite the latter's prominence in endowment. She talks to Kishoku with politeness, but is unable to tease too much lest she gets victimized by Kishoku's annoyance. Ren also harbors some jealousy to Kishoku, because she feels that Kishoku would be the one that will make Akimoto discover what is means to be in love. Other than that, Ren's relationship with Kishoku is rather stable despite knowing each other for two days. Odoruningyō Although the two have not met, Ren is treated as an object of hatred. This is because Odoruningyō was made by Akimoto's guilty soul, which was filled with regret concerning Ren. This has angered the Zanpakutou spirit, for its 'human' appearance and personality bears similarity to that of Ren's and has caused Akimoto to treat Odoruningyō as Ren rather than a Zanpakutou. Odoruningyō vows to kill Ren upon sight once Akimoto is able to manifest the former in the living world. Since Juro tells Ren of Odoruningyō's plans, Ren develops a fear for Odoruningyō and grows wary. After the timeskip, this stormy and hostile relationship was put to an end. Hakuchou Hakuchou is protective of Ren and makes a deal with Odoruningyō mainly for Ren's snake. Despite Hakuchou not being made entirely of Ren's soul and Spiritual Pressure, it is tailored to be wielded only by Ren. Kokuchou Kokuchou is Ren's own Zanpakutou molded by the traditional means of obtaining Shikai. The asauchi originaly belonged to Amon Isa, who didn't want to communicate with his Zanpakutou. Amon Isa Amon becomes Ren's mentor in developing her killing intent, due to her low scores in Zanjutsu. As a past member of the Onmitsukidō's Patrol Corps, he instills valuable techniques for Ren, such as Shunpo. He gives her his unnamed Zanpakutou so that she would not have to rely on Hakuchou. Despite him being a past member of the Onmitsukidō, he finds Ren's self-sacrificing tendencies for Akimoto's sake to be deranged, since her devotion isn't like that of a Squad 2 soldier to the Captain. Shizuka Koda Shizuka mentors Ren with Kido barriers and also develops Ren's Zanjutsu skill-- mainly the use of parries and disarming. Ren finds this style of fighting to be more refreshing than a 'killing intent' since it makes fights seem romanticized and beautiful. The two are also seen together during breaks with Ren dancing to Shizuka's music. Trivia * Ren's favorite foods are tarts, quiche, and crepes. She does not like edomame. * Ren's true name according to Reversereality is Kurenai, but none of the characters will ever know of this. * Ren is a fan of Shakespeare's tragedies. * Her hobbies include reading, dancing, and gardening. * When learning Teori Eishō, cat's cradle becomes added to Ren's list of hobbies. * Like Akimoto, Ren is also fond of tea. * According to Reversereality, Renai's theme song is Shadows by Lindsey Stirling. * Renai (恋愛) translates to 'love' in english. The kanji for Iwasaki (祝先) can be interpreted as 'past celebration' or 'future celebration.' It stands for appreciation of the past and hope for the future, which implies her wish for Akimoto to find his peace of mind. She finally accomplishes this. * Ren's Spiritual Pressure bears great similarity to Odoruningyō's, but is different than Akimoto's; however Odoruningyō's Spiritual Pressure bears great similarity to Akimoto's. This is a contributing factor to Hakuchou's conception. * Akimoto's signature Kido spell, Kuroibara, is translated as Blackthorn, which bears the same name as the brothel that Ren used to work in. * Her base stat total matches that of Akimoto's in all of his categories. * Since Hakuchou is conceived and imprinted from a 'surrogate soul' fashioned from Akimoto and Odoruningyō, it is implied that Ren can potentially mold her own unique Zanpakutou from another asuachi. Potentially, Ren can wield two Zanpakutous housed by two respective Zanpakutou spirits if she desires. This later proves to be correct with the birth of Kokuchou (spirit) from Amon's Isa's Asuachi. * Ren's Zanpakutou, Kokuchou, embodies Ren's self-sacrificing tendencies. * Ren's Zanpakutous are all based on swans. Since Hakuchou, a swan, is created from Akimoto and Odoruningyō, their portrayal of Ren's soul is accurate. This is confirmed when Ren's true Zanpakutou, Kokuchou, is a swan. * Her name bears resemblance to the Kurenaikoushi's name and release command. In fact, it is Ren herself. Quotes *(To Akimoto Kazuma) "Ahaha... Will anybody love this wretched body of mine? Because of you Akimoto, I think that no one can." *(Renai's internal monologue about Akimoto) "If I were given the choice between past and future, I would choose the future so it can make me strong rather than kind. Therefore, I will smile. And with bruised hands and a scarred body, I will walk towards the future. As long as he never fails to forget, then my strength will always reach him." Behind the Scenes *Despite her being a side character in the Project Genseki RP, the author is more fond of Ren than Akimoto. *Renai Iwasaki's displayed quote refers to and is inspired from Radwimps's song "Order Made." *Upon Ren's creation, she was destined to die and change Akimoto's fate forever. *The trio's (Akimoto, Ren, and Juro's) story was told by jumping between the present-time and the future, where one slowly learns the gaps that bridges them together. *Renai is known as the 'Swan Princess.' *Reversereality intends for his RP role in Project Genseki to play the present-time from Akimoto's POV, with the answers to the plot-holes to be found in Renai Iwasaki and Juro Kazuma's respective pages. Because of this, Renai Iwasaki's page is intended to hold future events that have not transpired in Project Genseki. The gap between the present and the far future will be filled as Project Genseki continues on. Category:Soul Reaper Category:Shinigami Category:3rd Division